VoIP calls through internet over some OTT players like WhatsApp, Hike, Viber gains momentum as more people use data & own a smartphone nowadays. In India, WhatsApp has the largest user base while Bharti’s Hike is quite popular. On the other hand, Viber was the only one that was providing free calls. A few months back, WhatsApp and Hike introduced the free calls feature using Voice over Internet Protocol.

Recently Telecom carriers hiked call rates & ratecutter’s price and now a local / STD call costs an average 45-65 paise/Min. So, many users are opting for VoIP free calls over regular calls although it’s not completely free as those calls eat data from your balance. So today we’re taking a look at how much VoIP call costs as compared to regular calls.

WhatsApp calling on 3G and 2G network

They have launched voice calling features for Android, Windows and ios and WhatsApp users can call between them.

Interestingly Viber consumed less data with an average of 350 kb for each minute.

How much does it cost to make call on Whatsapp, Hike and Viber vs Regular call charges

Our test showed that 500 Mb data pack can give 7.6 hours WhatsApp calling, while Viber would give 16 hours calling and hike can offer the best as it consumes less data and can give 20 hours calling.

Currently 500 Mb 3G data costs average Rs.150, so if we calculate it’s definitely not cheap.

OTT players

Data Usage/Per Minute

No of Calls we can make in 500 MB data

Per Minute cost

(500 Mb = 150 Rupees)

WhatsApp

1100 Kb

7.6 hours

33 Paisa

Hike

400 Kb

20 Hours

13 Paisa

Viber

500 Kb

16 Hours

16 Paisa

However, to call someone, the person also needs an active data connection and the same amount of data consumed on his phone during a internet call. On the other hand, normal calls don’t charge for incoming calls, so here is a chart of comparison between internet call charge & Regular call charge:

OTT players

Total call charge (including recipients’ data charges)

Regular call charges

WhatsApp

33 Paisa × 2= 66 Paisa

45 Paisa to 65 Paisa

Hike

13 Paisa × 2 = 26 Paisa

45 Paisa to 65 Paisa

Viber

16 Paisa × 2= 32 Paisa

45 Paisa to 65 Paisa

Our take:

Calls on 3G network were clear but calls on 2G network echoed & were not clear. Hopefully WiFi connection with good speed can also give better calling experience. Current 2G network of different carriers doesn’t provide stable 2G speeds so internet calls can’t be smooth. For international calls, VoIP calling is a great feature only if you are on WiFi. With the present state of 3G and 2G mobile Internet in the country, you simply cannot make an international call while on-the-go. The caller has to have better speeds for better experience.

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Leave a Reply

The analysis is incorrect because i was using whatsapp for calling till now and never got a warning about my daily limit which is 1 gb after calling for hours daily. Used hike yesterday for video calling and for a call of 87 minutes it consumed data approximately 700 mb.

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Rupendra Singh

September 10, 2016 12:57 am 12:57 AM

How I check data consumed by hike for call because Whatsapp show data for call but doesn’t show so I don’t know hike calls data…please tell me how I check data consumed by hike for a call

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Manish

August 14, 2015 8:02 pm 8:02 PM

We should have an extensive VoIP test done with the new reduced data consumption for WhatsApp and a few other options like Facebook Messenger’s voice call also included. Please make sure that almost all the VoIP players are covered.